The wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 - downed over Ukraine in July - was "consistent with the damage that would be expected from a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside", crash investigators say.

The fact that there were many pieces of aircraft structure distributed over a large area indicated that the Boeing 777, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, broke up in the air, a preliminary report by the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) said.

A total of 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens and residents, died in the July 17 incident.

The DSB said the black boxes recovered from the war-torn crash site in Ukraine showed no evidence of manipulation.

The black box cockpit voice recorder (CVR) which provided a record of pilots' conversations "gave no indication of any malfunction or emergency" before the crash.

The Chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, Stefan Romaniw, says co-operation over the MH17 disaster has brought the two countries closer together.

Australia is about to start giving humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, and it's opening its first embassy in the Ukrainian capital.The moves were announced during a visit to Kiev by a group representing Ukrainian Australians, to discuss ways...

For most families, the wait continues, six weeks after flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)The remains of some of those killed in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 have been returned to their famlies in different parts of the world.But for most families, the wait continues, six...

Royal Malay Regiment army personnel carry a coffin during the arrival ceremony of Malaysia Airlines MH17 victims (AAP)

Royal Malay Regiment army personnel carry a coffin to a hearse during the arrival ceremony of Malaysia Airlines MH17 victims (AAP)

The first remains of the 43 Malaysians killed in the MH17 disaster have returned home to a national day of mourning.

A special Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam touched down shortly before 10am local time on Friday bearing the remains of 20 people killed when the plane was shot out of the sky over war-torn eastern Ukraine.

Malaysia's King Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, Prime Minister Najib Razak and other top officials were on hand for a solemn ceremony to receive the coffins at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The observance was to be followed by a nationwide minute of silence expected to bring its busy streets, schools and businesses to a standstill across the country of 28 million, while flags nationwide flew at half-mast.

Authorities had earlier asked citizens of the Muslim-majority country to refrain from festive activities and don black out of respect for the victims.

Commuters streaming into the bustling streets of the capital Kuala Lumpur earlier in the morning were overwhelming black-clad, while state television aired recitations from the Koran and flashed photos of the Malaysian victims.

The remains of 28 Malaysian victims of doomed flight MH17 will be flown home this week, the government says.

The remains of at least 15 Malaysians killed when a jetliner was shot down over Ukraine will be returned to their home country this week, the first Malaysian victims of the disaster to be flown home, the country's defence minister says.All 298...